Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down The Craziest Small Town Drama They've Ever Experienced

As Adele sings it... "In my hometown..." we appreciate our towns more.

I grew up in New York City so small town USA is not my wheelhouse.

But I've been told plenty of tales, stories, and scandals that come out of the heartland.

(Mostly thanks to Dateline NBC)

Much of the craziest in life happens in towns with only a handful of stoplights.

Let's hear some...

Redditor jvniper666 wanted to hear all the mess and drama about small town USA. So they asked:

"What’s your small town drama?"

When I was growing up in Astoria one summer. We had a kidnapper on the loose. That was intense.

"Trips"

gay men GIF Giphy

"Several prominent men were caught having gay orgies during 'hunting trips.'"

REDDIT

Drained

"I lived in a smallish town (about 5000) in the 90s. We had one of those big water towers in the middle of town. Sometime in the 80s a town worker, who was unsatisfied with his job and life, decided to take his own life. One May night he jimmied himself up to the ladder that was 12 ft from the ground, climbed to the top, unscrewed the man hole at the top, and jumped in."

"Subsequently he drowned and wasn’t found for a few months. I wasn’t living in the town during the event, so I don’t know of any funny tasting or discoloured water from the taps, but the town assures the people that the filtration system had down its job and very minimal human waste made it through the filters. Everything was drained and disinfected."

dazedNdizorientated

Punched

"In the span of 4 months in a town of 800 someone was murdered and someone broke into the undersheriff’s house (presumably to rob the place) but his daughter was home the guy punched her in the face and ran. According to his daughter the guy 'punched like a little *itch."

birdofswag2

Rich Kid

"Rich kid son of local Chamber of Commerce president tries to burn down a homeless encampment, fire ends up burning right up to an expensive neighborhood. Gets arrested, released on bail, charges brought for trying to kill homeless, charges dropped, charged again with lesser crimes, eventually judge gently slaps his wrist and says he isn’t a criminal because he is mentally ill. Whole community is miffed, but not enough to get out pitchforks because only homeless people got hurt."

ThisIsDen

And Recliners?

Season 17 Television GIF by The Simpsons Giphy

"The city government is trying to outlaw burning couches on your front lawn. I didn’t know this happened often enough to be an issue, but it’s getting a ton of push back."

handsthefram

Burning couches. That has to have an even more interesting story.

Manhunt

money run GIF by Juan Billy Giphy

"I also should probably mention in the city, there’s a guy stealing catalytic converters all over the city and it’s having a city wide manhunt for this man that’s just ripping them off of anything he can get away with."

Link_hunter9

Crazy Year

"Our mayor got killed and it's possible to hear the gunshots on a local radio recording. He was being interviewed on that radio, left to his car and got shot seconds after leaving, it seems that he owed a lot of money to someone and got killed, it became news on the whole country, that was a crazy year."

Regular-Attorney-310

Vote on It

"City had a vote on whether to change the school mascot (a Native American with headdress). People who wanted to keep it rallied behind the son of the Native American man who initially created the mascot years ago. Then census evidence came out casting doubt on whether that guy was actually Native American."

scrotdust

The Spiller

"At one point in my hometown a Domino's manager was arrested for arson after burning down a Papa John's in an attempt to increase revenue."


Realistic-Cheetah-14

Rivals

Angela Bassett Burn GIF Giphy

"At one point in my hometown, a Domino's manager was arrested for arson after burning down a Papa John's in an attempt to increase revenue."

Grentain

Any place you live holds secrets. And you place you live (big or small) has history. So embrace it all and spill that tea.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Donald Trump
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Brutal New Magazine Cover Epically Skewers 'Very Bad Loser' Trump Over His War With Iran

The Economist has condemned President Donald Trump's "reckless campaign against Iran" with their latest magazine cover lampooning "Operation Epic Fury," the joint U.S.-Israel campaign that culminated in strikes against Iran on February 28.

The artwork portrays Trump in a camouflage military helmet, bullets tucked into the strap and pulled low over his eyes—a pointed visual suggesting he lacks a clear sense of direction as the conflict enters its third week.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of Sanae Takaichi and Donald Trump
MS Now

Room Goes Silent After Trump Makes Super Tone-Deaf Joke To Japanese Prime Minister About Pearl Harbor In Shocking Video

The audience in the Oval Office went silent after President Donald Trump made a tone-deaf joke about the attack on Pearl Harbor to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi following a question about why he kept his attack on Iran a "surprise."

Trump was wrapping up a Q&A with reporters during a bilateral meeting with Takaichi when a Japanese journalist pressed him on why key allies—like Japan—were not notified ahead of the attack on Iran on February 28.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshots from @torimosser's TikTok video
@torimosser/TikTok

Woman Says Stranger On TikTok Helped Save Her Life After Dangerous Medical Misdiagnosis

It is far too common for women's health concerns to be dismissed in the United States, especially when it comes to chronic conditions and pain levels.

Diagnosed with several chronic conditions, 23-year-old TikToker Tori Mosser reflected on years of painful stomach cramps and painful episodes when she finally was able to share that she'd received a diagnosis: Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS).

Keep Reading Show less
Images from u/South-Basket-887's post in the 'Mildly Infuriating' subReddit
u/South-Basket-887/Reddit

Landlord Sparks Debate After Warning Tenant About Leaving Small Appliances Plugged In

Many of us have had to live in a rented space at some point in our lives and had to deal with landlords, some of whom can be very imposing and let the power of having tenants go to their heads.

But most of us probably didn't receive special notes from our landlords detailing the little observations they noticed about our lifestyles while doing a surprise inspection.

Keep Reading Show less
Mark Zuckerberg
Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images

Meta Is Shutting Down Its VR 'Metaverse' After Spending An Obscene Amount Of Money Building It—And People Are Roasting Mark Zuckerberg Hard

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was roasted online after Meta announced they'll be shutting down Horizon Worlds, part of their virtual reality "Metaverse," this summer after spending close to $80 billion on the project.

The news comes five years after Zuckerberg declared the metaverse to be the future of Facebook, even renaming the company Meta to reflect that vision. In recent months, Meta cut roughly 10% of the workforce in its "metaverse" division and signaled a shift away from virtual reality for its flagship platform, Horizon Worlds, where users interact through avatars.

Keep Reading Show less